AUSTIN – Sophomore Preston Woodard cashed in his first-ever ticket to the NCAA National Meet as he placed sixth in the triple jump at the NCAA Division I Track and Field West Preliminary Round on Friday evening.
Woodard recorded his final mark on the second jump as he logged a jump of 51-10. He opened the event with a mark of 51-3 which also turned out to be a qualifying mark. As a result of his national berth, the Sweeny, Texas
standout capped off the rare fest of qualifying for nationals in both the indoor and outdoor championships.
Woodard also became the first Prairie View A&M men’s track athlete to earn a national berth since 2009 and the first jumper since Ron Nelson’s sixth-place appearance in the high jump in 2000.
On Saturday, senior hurdler William Donelson will attempt to join Woodard at Nationals as he’ll compete in the 110-meter hurdles at 7:05 p.m. Donelson ran 14.09 in the preliminaries of the 110-meter hurdles on Friday. Donels
on, who also ran the 400-meter hurdles on Thursday, was part of a quartet of Panthers who competed in the preliminary rounds. Robert Williams closed out his career as he competed in the 200 on Friday while Vernon Lewis ran the 400 on Thursday.
